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You can now add an application on Facebook where you express what mood you’re in, via various pantone colours. Sure it’s a little bit useless, but I find it a fun addition for artistic graphic designer types such as myself.

Find out more at: http://apps.facebook.com/pantone/

There’s a limited colour palette at the moment, but if you check their page soon, there should be more colour trends coming, they say that they rotate the palettes.

Express your mood at: http://apps.facebook.com/pantone/

Pantone® released it’s Spring 2010 Fashion Colour Report the other week, just thought i’d share a review of all the hottest colours.

Designers bring splashes of sunshine to the runway for spring 2010. Vibrant brights add a sense of excitement to the color palette, while practical neutrals provide a safety net for cautious consumers.

“Now more than ever, women are vigilant when it comes to spending,” said Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute®. “Instead of reinventing their wardrobe at the start of each season, consumers want pieces to complement what they already own. Pairing a bold color with a basic piece or freshening up their look with bright accents addresses the need for practicality, as well as fun.”

Spring and summer naturally evoke feelings of calm ocean waters and tranquil beach vacations in cool, vibrant, tropical Turquoise. This soothing hue from the blue-green family conjures feelings of escape, especially when paired with Amparo Blue. With more warmth than the typical spring navy, this particular shade of blue is extremely appealing because of its brighter, more energetic attitude. Like the scent of a blossoming flower, Violet lends a romantic air to the warm-weather palette. This intriguing purplish hue is a distinctive addition to any wardrobe.

Yellow has made its mark on fashion and spring will further this trend with gleaming Aurora. Reminiscent of the first glimpse of yellow as the sun begins to rise over the horizon, this shimmering, slightly greenish yellow adds a bold infusion. Energy continues to surge throughout the warmer hues of spring, leading to provocative Fusion Coral. This inviting orange connects directly to tangy Tomato Purée, this season’s classic red. Pair it with Turquoise for a retro look.

Thoughtful, cautious neutrals provide a dependable backbone to the brights of spring. Kick back and enjoy the bubbly luxury of Pink Champagne. This delicate, wispy tint is the season’s newest neutral. The melding of Pink Champagne, Tomato Purée and Amparo Blue is a refreshing take on the classic springtime combination of red, white and blue.Three additional neutrals round out the palette. Tuscany, a warm beige hue, provides the perfect backdrop and works well as a solid base color with dynamic accents like Fusion Coral or Violet.

Dried Herb is the ultimate green neutral, pairing well with all other colors. Ideal for bigger ticket items, cool Eucalyptus is the eternal, practical gray. Choose this nuanced neutral and add brightly colored exclamation points in shoes, jewelry and handbags.

(Taken from Pantone’s forecast)

www.rickis.com

Mix, match, accessorize! Ricki’s new E-Commerce enabled website allows you to buy that hot new outfit right from the comfort of your own home.

A Canadian clothing giant with over 130 retail locations, Ricki’s is a leader in providing working women with fashion forward clothing at a great price. Not sure what you want? Get great style tips and clothing combinations by clicking your way through the ‘10 items 10 ways’ flash feature or the ‘Wear to Work’ section.

Cowie and Fox collaborated with Elastic Path and Bazaar Voice to create an Enterprise Level shopping E-Commerce solution that lets the consumer rate the products they purchase online or in store. Follow reviews by women who have the same body type as you to ensure that you are getting the clothes that fit you best.  Check out www.rickis.com to see our latest interactive E-Commerce solution.

Online shopping has never been so easy, or looked so good.

Everyone on the team at Cowie and Fox is pretty damn awesome, but on occasion there are those who rise above to a level of greatness that is unparalleled. Those who go above and beyond in the call of duty to make sure that their work and customer service is nothing less than awesome are given the prestigious and coveted Cowie and Fox Award of Awesomeness. Recent winners include Velko Vechev, Melanie Roy, Nicole Phillips, Lance Cummings and Jon Tang.

When lululemon came to us with the need for an ad campaign that was unpredictable and entertaining, that was current and relevant with the times, we ran with it.  They said that they weren’t scared to tell the truth and give the Yoga Journal readers a dose of what they needed to hear.  In the ad world, we don’t always get the opportunity to reveal our pitch.  However, at Cowie and Fox we agree with lululemon in saying that the “Pro Reality” message was a great ad campaign to work on.  It sends a message that resonates with something we all need to be attentive to in our daily lives.

The Pitch:

“‘The world is rapidly becoming muddled into a technology driven trance, where we lose touch with our senses, emotions and the true relationships that makes being a human so amazing. Instead we seek fulfillment by watching other people’s lives on television and communicating intimate personal feelings through cold and emotionless machines. Our subtle body language, facial expressions and simple touch have been replaced by abbreviated text message jargon, emoticons and blurted “comments” on a Facebook page. We are overestimating technology and are losing sight of true community, true life, and the truly powerful emotions we feel when simply looking into someone’s eyes.”

The Ads:

I hope you can all take something away from lululemon’s ‘Pro Reality’ message.

I know we did.

Released in Singapore, these ads are cute and effective with a little dark side. Although these ads do make me wonder how safe Play-Doh really is, because i’m sure almost every kid has atleast tasted Play-Doh in their lifetime. (Mmm salty.) Does anyone know how true their “non-toxic” labeling is?

www.cactusclubcafe.com

Cactus Club is the leader in the modern dining experience, as it relates to the urban Vancouverite’s lifestyle.  It’s no wonder they chose Cowie and Fox to help them lead their online presence.  In today’s ever changing landscape, companies have to maintain an impeccable online image that reflects their business philosophies and caters to their customers needs and wants. 

There is a lot you can learn online about a restaurant that you wouldn’t necessarily be able observe from eating there.  Did you know that to reduce Cactus Club’s environmental footprint they have sourced premium Ocean Wise selections to ensure their guests can enjoy fresh environmentally friendly seafood year round?  Or that they part take in The Green Table Network?  Considering Cactus Club is giving what you want in house and working hard to have impeccable environmental, community and service standards, their online presence has to delivers the same satisfying experience.  There is alot of choices when choosing a company that can help you with your brand and online presence.  Find out why Cactus Club chooses us.

Does your restaurant need a recession make over?  Or maybe just a new presence online to drive customers your way?  Is your company doing more in the community and for the environment then meets the eye in house?  What about a social media campaign?  Cowie and Fox can help any restaurant aspire to be the leader in their market.

It’s official, India has released an electric car. It’s name is Reva and it comes in a variety of loud colours.

REVA Electric Car Company Private Ltd. (RECC), based in Bangalore, India, was established in 1994 as a joint venture between the Maini Group India and AEV LLC, California USA, to manufacture environment-friendly and cost-effective electric vehicles. Seven years of R&D earned the RECC recognition in the form of 10 patents and a globally accepted product. REVA, India’s first zero polluting Electric Vehicle for city mobility. (taken from website)

Hopefully this zippy little car will change the ever growing pollution issues in that part of the world …. and the rest of the world for that matter…long live the electric car…for real this time…I hope.

(As a side note to this topic, I watched “Who Killed The Electric Car” the other day…if you haven’t, you probably should too, even if it leaves you as confused about the car industry as I was.)

Technology still manages to blow my mind each and everyday. Picture researcher Rachel Young of Ossett, England, took just 15 hours on Google Earth, to find images representing all 26 letters of the alphabet.

Click to see full size image:

By now everyone is tired of going to some website and NOT being able to play the video there because of a missing plugin, incompatibility, browser issues, etc.

The next major release of HTML (version 5, the language that gives structures to a webpage) will be released (eventually). As you would expect there will be a number of improvements to many areas. One part in particular has cause some debate as of late and that has to with a new tag, the <video> tag.

This new tag would allow for defining video, such as a movie clip or other video streams, without having to use any plugins or extra JavaScript files to make it play, so kind of like the <img> tag. Since this is supposed to become a standard, some of the debates around it have to do with what kind of codecs should be used and other format related tech things.

One thing is for sure, if there is an agreement to use one single defined set of standards, then everyone will benefit from this new user-enhancing feature.

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